Godzilla In Pop Culture

Godzilla's In Theaters Today. We Took A Look At All The Other Places He's Been.

With Godzilla storming and stomping its way into theaters today, and reviewers raving about it, we thought we'd take a look back through the years at all the times our favorite angry green lizard has been appropriated for the sake of pop culture — and there have been a lot. (In fact, one time in 1998, he was inexplicably featured in a whole B-movie comedy starring Matthew Broderick. Weird.)

Yes, no matter the era, Godzilla has managed to make an appearance or two, whether it be in commercials, music videos, TV shows or terrible, terrible remakes. Interestingly, the rights to Godzilla are owned by a Japanese company named Toho, who have, in recent years, cracked down on the use of Godzilla's likeness without permission. With that being said, here are some of the best and most memorable Godzilla pop culture sightings:

"Bambi Meets Godzilla" — Marv Newland (1969)

Apparently the guy who made this animation didn't own the copyrights to it and so it made the rounds on all the late night television shows. I guess I can see how this could have been shocking to a kid in 1969... And is it possible that this inspired the foot in the intro to Monty Python's Flying Circus? Or vice versa? Someone call the International Nerd Assembly and have them get back to us.

"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" — Nike Commercial (1992)

Ahh, the '90s. Such a simpler time. How is it possible that this 30-second commercial from 1992 got Godzilla so right and the 1998 Godzilla movie got Godzilla so wrong?

"Reptar" from Rugrats (1991-2004)

I don't want to turn this list into one of those "You Know You Grew Up In '90s If..." features, but remember Reptar from Rugrats? Parody makes appropriation way too easy...

"Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" — The Simpsons (1999)

A visit to Japan for The Simpsons meant a Godzilla parody was a given, but the creators even went one nerdy step better and included Mothra, Rodan and Gamera.

Take Me To Your Leader — King Geedorah (2003)

This one's for all the hip-hop heads out there: MF DOOM a.k.a. Daniel Dumile made an album under the name "King Geedorah" called Take Me To Your Leader that uses samples from Godzilla movies all throughout the album ("Ghidorah" is that freaky three-headed dragon Godzilla sometimes fights). There are some weird lines in the old Godzilla movies...

Bridezillas — WE Tv (2004-2013)

This one doesn't really include Godzilla, but as if we have a TV show that compares brides-to-be to the skyscraper-dwarfing, fire-breathing bane of Japan, Godzilla. Just goes to show, we truly believe that "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Have a Godzilla pop culture sighting that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!